Church Street in Feb. 2024
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A Star with a Camán
Pic. and text from Hurling Banter on Facebook
What a AMAZING performance by former Kerry and Ballyduff hurler Jack Goulding who scored 3-11 as London Beat Wicklow by 3-20 to 1-20 in Division 2b. Goulding a Real DASHING and a massive loss to The Kingdom -BE
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Historical Artefacts
On my night at Muskerry Local History lecture I heard from Mary Oleary.
Her artefact was a certificate of indenture. Mary’s ancestor was apprenticed to a plumber at age 15 in 1891.
This apprenticeship sounded a bit like slavery to me. The master owned the poor lad body and soul. He was not allowed to frequent public houses or any entertainment. He couldn’t swear or court a young lady. He was to dress respectably at all times. He got no money until his third year and then it was only four shillings. The apprenticeship lasted 7 years. Mary’s ancestor survived the period of his indenture and went on to eventually set up his own gas and plumbing business.
Jerry Twomey from Kilgarven told us about his own experience of hand cutting turf using tools and skills handed down through his family.
Turf cutting usually began on or around St. Patrick’s Day. The first job was to soak the handles of the sleáns and pikes. After the winter the wooden handles would be dried out and loose. Soaking them swells the wood and means they are easier to use.
The top scraw was cut off with a hay knife. This was cut horizontally. It was a hard job and in Jerry’s family it was always done by his dad. V trenches were dug for drainage and then the work of turf cutting began. His dad also cut the first sod as this one was fibrous and needed a strong man to cut through it. The pike man stood in the trench and threw the sods to the spreaders. Children were often given the job of spreading the sods as they could carry the sods one by one away from the bank. The second sod was not quite so fibrous, so a less able man could be put on the sleán.
The best black turf was at the bottom.
Turf cutting is an age old tradition that connects us to our forefathers.
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Listowel Lady on Today
Beautiful, talented broadcaster, Elaine Kinsella joined Dáithí on the orange couch to present the Today programme for two days last week.
She did a great job, relaxed and engaged…a natural.
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Hayfield Manor
A little bit of heaven in Cork
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Just a Thought
Reflections I gave last week on Radio Kerry
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A Fact
Bambi Thug has been chosen to represent Ireland in the 2024 Eurovision contest.
Ireland has won the European talent show no fewer than seven times (in 1970, 1980, 1987, 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1996). That’s more than any other country that has ever entered the competition!
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